Apple wants in on the English Premier League
Apple made its debut in the world of live sports streaming last year, signing deals to premiere Major League Baseball and the MLS right on the platform. It tried its hardest to land a deal for the rights to the NFL, though it lost that battle to YouTube. That’s not stopping Apple’s streaming rampage, now entering the race to host the English Premier League on its service.
The deal, should it come to fruition, would cost the trillion-dollar company $250m per year. That number could have been far larger for the domestic UK streaming rights since football is the most-watched sport in England (and most of Europe, too).
No matter the outcome of Apple’s bid, it would need to wait until 2025 before it could start streaming matches on its service. That’s because the League has a deal in place with Sky Sports and BT Sport, which is set to expire then. Still, that isn’t stopping the League from opening up the auction, with Apple expected to make its bid soon.
If you’re worried about missing out on watching the Premier League entirely, don’t. The Premier League is built in such a way that its packaging terms can’t be owned entirely by one entity – meaning that multiple owners can own the rights to stream the matches on a contract deal. Don’t worry DStv, you’re not dead just yet.
Source: 9to5Mac
Sony builds a time machine
No, Sony hasn’t actually built a time machine. If it did, you best believe it wouldn’t be shoved into a Light Start. That, at least, would get its own article. But it is trying its hardest to make us think it’s travelled back to the 80s though, with the release of new Android Walkmans – the NW-A300 and NW-ZX700.
This isn’t a return to form either. Sony has been releasing Android Walkmans for a while – the first hit shelves back in 2012. We’ve got two new ones to look forward to, though they’re only set to release in Japan, Europe, and the UK. Should there be enough demand, there’s potential for a South African release. But don’t hold your breath.
You might be wondering “Why do I need this? I have a smartphone.” And the answer is; you don’t. You have a cellphone capable of holding millions of songs without breaking a sweat. But that’s not the point. Owning one of these is more for the ‘cool factor’ rather than a need for practicality.
The more expensive of the two new models – the NW-ZX700 comes with two audio outs – a regular old 3.5mm headphone jack and a bigger 4.4mm “balanced” jack, usually seen when using high-end audio equipment. There’s 64GB of storage (really?) and a battery that Sony promises will last 23 hours. Audio nerds will appreciate the addition of the NativeDSD, and Sony’s ‘DSEE Ultimate’ feature that can apparently use AI to upscale your music.
Both models are releasing in February in Japan and will cost $800 (R13,500) for the NW-ZX700 and $430 (R7,200) for the NW-A300. Check out The Walkman Blog for a deeper dive into the specs of these babies.
Source: Ars Technica
Bugatti and its second electric scooter
Stuff likes a good scooter. We just usually prefer them to not cost the same as a small house. If you have that lying around, then you might just appreciate Bugatti’s second scooter which was revealed at CES. Through a partnership with ByTech, the two companies have teamed up yet again to bring a bigger, better, and more colourful version of their electric scooter to market.
Bugatti has yet to reveal pricing for the 2023 model, though we can assume it’ll cost more than the $1,200 model that was released last year. It’s 10% bigger than its predecessor, has larger “self-repairing tires” and has a 36-volt/15.6Ah battery capable of putting out 1,000W when it needs to.
Of course, that’s not all you’re getting. This is Bugatti we’re talking about. The 2023 model has passcode protection, and a touchscreen display – showing battery life, headlight buttons, and speed. Oh, and there are indicators that pair up with the accompanying helmet to give other drivers an idea of where you’re headed (To the bank to declare bankruptcy, probably).
Source: TechCrunch
YouTube is working on it (apparently)
YouTube wants to change how creators on its platform approach swearing in videos. While it’s never been a problem to swear in YouTube videos, the platform’s content policy has some rules if you’d like to get paid. YouTubers cannot swear in the first 15 seconds of videos, or they risk losing monetization for that specific problem. All good, right?
Well, that’s not where the issue lies. YouTube has been retroactively demonetizing videos that broke the new rules before the new rules were even a thing. YouTubers don’t even have the ability to appeal these videos in most cases – and no option to edit the video either. This means those videos won’t ever earn money again, no matter what.
Speaking to The Verge, YouTube said that it was “making some adjustments” to the policy it released at the end of last year. Problem is, it isn’t telling the world what it’s doing to fix the problems at hand. We have to blindly trust that a fix is on the way – one that’ll hopefully reinstate the affected videos to be monetized again. Until then, don’t swear in the first 15 seconds. After that, go nuts.
Source: Engadget